Sacred Harp Singing

Justin and I went to a Sacred Harp Singing at the church he grew up in, Red Oak Baptist, this past Sunday. For those of you who are not familiar (neither was I), it is a type of singing that is acapella and is referred to as shape note singing. "Shape note" music means that the notes are printed in special shapes that help the reader identify them on the musical scale. Each of the four shapes is connected to a particular syllable: fa, sol, la, and mi. Its hard to explain without hearing it for yourself, so I have included a video! It is a dying art that is a old Southern tradition, started in the 1800s.